Distance (round-trip)
3.8 mi
Time
2 hrs
Elevation Gain
807 ft
Season
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
Weather
–
3.8 mi
2 hrs
807 ft
Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter
–
One of our 16 Ways to See the Hollywood Sign
The Hogback Trail is an accessible, just-under four mile loop in Griffith Park to the peak of Mount Hollywood. On a clear day, this hike will give you tremendous views of the L.A. basin and nearby Griffith Observatory, and its short length belies some genuinely sweat-inducing stretches of incline. It’s a great little hike in the heart of Griffith Park — and the Hogback Trail is one of the most beloved fitness hikes in Los Angeles.
Griffith Park is a great resource for L.A. hikers – both for training hikes and for quick escapes when you don’t have time to make it out for a longer trek. This route up to Mount Hollywood is short and can be done in around 90 minutes if you’re making good time – but features enough of an incline that you’ll feel like you got a good workout along the way.
This hike starts on Vermont Avenue, right near the Greek Theater. Park and walk along the east side of Vermont until you see a broad path heading up from the street. Look for a trash can and a large sign warning you about rattlesnakes (they like to sun out on the fire roads, especially on hot summer days).
For now, ignore the use trail and continue straight for about another 0.5 miles, where you will reach yet another north-south route through Aberdeen Canyon. Once again, ignore the use trails and keep on the main trail, which you’ll be able to recognize because it’s the only one that has a steep incline.
Now … get ready for the workout portion of the hike – for the next 0.72 miles, you’ll be ascending nearly 400 feet along a completely shadeless ridge, making your way toward Mount Hollywood.
It’s not technically difficult, but on a hot, sunny day this stretch could definitely make you winded. Just take it easy and enjoy your workout and views on the Hogback Trail.
At the 2.2 mile mark, the ridge-walking Hogback Trail comes to a junction with a north-south fire road near a small, shaded garden called Dante’s View. The Garden here is named for Dante Orgolini, an Italian artist and journalist who moved to the United States in 1926. He attended Boston University, received a degree in art, and was planning on heading to Brazil after finishing a few murals for the Santa Barbara Courthouse but instead settled in Los Angeles to cover the entertainment industry for the Brazilian newspaper A Noite. Living in Los Feliz, he took to exploring Griffith Park in his spare time, and with the help of fellow hikers and park rangers, he carved out this garden that now carries his name. Dante maintained the garden for years as a volunteer, succeeded by a fellow longtime volunteer named Charlie Parker (the Charlie Turner Trailhead near the Observatory and Berlin Forest is named in Parker’s honor).
Enjoy a bit of rare shade or some water from the nearby fountain (there’s a little dog dish for four-legged hikers, too).
Either way you decide to descend, once you get to the trail just below the summit of Mount Hollywood, when you reach the five-way junction it may seem a bit confusing. When you’re looking south from this junction, you’ll see this:
Trails in Griffith Park are well maintained, and now this route is well-marked with trail signs. As long as you ignore the use trails, you should be OK.
Drive north on Vermont Avenue through Los Feliz and into Griffith Park. Once inside the park, pass the Greek Theater on your left and park on the street. The trailhead will be on the east side of Vermont.
12 Comments
Second half of this trail can get intense on 80°+ temps with its steep inclines. It's a great workout for those that don't hike regularly.
This is actually a pretty hard hike for under 4 miles and ~1000 gain. The first meandering stretch is insanely beautiful. I felt like I was in Ireland with the amount of green everywhere. The subsequent climb up to the garden is fun, but for a person with mild vertigo, there are some pretty sketchy parts. I'm exaggerating a bit, but I think the fact that there aren't as many switchbacks and you can just see in profile the massive hill you're about to climb adds to the drama. Once I got to the summit, I couldn't believe how much better this is than the traditional 'hollywood sign hike' i've done. Great stuff. I did get confused by the directions post garden. You need to continue PAST the garden before you hit the 5 way junction. I was looking all over for the 5 way! Hike down is fun albeit a bit steep. I slipped once and I was wearing legit hiking shoes.
Just did this hike with my two little nieces, and my 3 year-old nephew earlier today (3/19/'15). We didn't make it to the summit. I had to gauge how they were breathing, it was sunny, got hot near the summit. Made it to the 5-junction section and just soaked in the views, had our snacks and water, and went back the way we came. They had a blast and want to reach the summit next time.
I love your blog. I'm currently Hiking 1000 Trails in 1000 Days and you help narrow down my searching but giving great trail directions and instructions. Please check out my progress at www.calihike.blogspot.com
-Jeremy
Sabo, Amir's Garden is DEFINITELY on the short list. I hope to get up there soon - maybe I'll shoot you an email to try to meet up before or after the hike?
Sabo--Thanks for posting a link to the map. I"ve been looking for a decent Griffith Park hiking map for quite some time.
BTW - do you have the Griffith Park map put out by the council office in the past few years? It's OK for a lot of the wide trails and fire roads.... http://www.tomlabonge.com/map/Griffith_Park_Map.pdf
How about the hands-down cool map published for Griffith Park, now out of print - the legendary Hilemans map? We've got a scan of that map on the Amir's Garden web site: http://amirsgarden.org/image1/GPMap.jpg
I hope you'll do a Griffith park loop that includes Amir's Garden (http://www.Amirsgarden.org ).
I'm the caretaker up there, and we have a run of more than 200 stairs on the north side of the garden that Amir and his close friend Henry Shamma (see the blue Glendale Peak sign you photographed on this trip) originally built in the early '70s that were rebuilt in 2009. With funding from the Sierra Club, the south-east 130 stairs were rebuilt in Jan-Feb this year. A lot of the local hiking groups use the stairs accesses to Amir's Garden regularly.
With recent wildfire damage and ongoing waves of COVID-19 infections and restrictions, National Forest, National Park, and other public land closures, restrictions, or social distancing guidelines may be in-effect.
If infection rates are on the rise, please do your best to remain local for your hikes. If you do travel, please be mindful of small gateway communities and avoid as much interaction as you can. Also remember to be extra prepared with supplies so you don't have to stop somewhere outside your local community for gas, food, or anything else.
Please be sure to contact the local land management agency BEFORE you head out, as these conditions are likely to change without enough notice for us to fully stay on top of them. Thanks, and stay safe!
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